Syed, who writes for the Times, has been hunting down the truth of how Roman Abramovich made his money for a long time.
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Whether in print or on TV, Syed has been calling for Roman Abramovich’s head, consistently arguing that he made his money through underhanded means.
In Matthew Syed’s opinion, the way Abramovich accumulated his wealth was far from clean.
Syed has long voiced his the belief that Abramovich only bought Chelsea “for protection” in case Vladimir Putin came after him.
In a 2015 op-ed in the Times, Syed labelled Chelsea’s Russian owner a “manipulative and ruthless chancer”. He wrote:
(Abramovich) is a manipulative and ruthless chancer whose money was gained through dubious means, and whose calculated purchase of Chelsea had nothing to do with love of football.
He did it to shield himself from possible retribution from Vladimir Putin’s gangster state.
‘Roman Abramovich risks losing Chelsea FC’
On Wednesday, the morning before Chelsea take on Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the Champions League, Syed has launched a fresh assault on Abramovich in the Times.
Syed has picked up his story about Abramovich’s shady wealth, and updated it with how the situation for Russian oligarchs in the UK could be about to change.
The highlight of Syed’s piece is the scare story that Abramovich could have Chelsea FC taken away from him.
Syed’s piece hits the Blues owner with an early sucker punch, as Abramovich’s Chelsea takeover is labelled “one of the biggest scandals in British sport”.
The article then discusses how the American government have begun seizing assets of “dozens of corrupt Russians” who have parked their money in the United States.
Britain doesn’t have such legislation in place right now, but Syed demands “we should introduce a beefed-up version of the same law.”
Should such a bill make it into law, the jig could be up for Abramovich at Chelsea:
Abramovich bought Chelsea FC, presumably confident that his assets would be safe in a nation that has long enjoyed the cash flowing from oligarchs. A strong UK version of the Magnitsky Act could change all that.
It could enable the state to determine whether assets owned in Britain were paid for with ill-gotten cash.
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If our legislators have the courage to draft a rigorous clause, the deal could be looked into and it is not just Abramovich’s homes and private assets that may then be at risk, but Chelsea FC.
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